Azerbaijani NGOs send open letter to US Congressman Adam Schiff

The civil society representatives from Azerbaijan have strongly condemned the initiatives of the US Congress to allocate financial aid to Armenian revanchists.

A group of Azerbaijani NGOs sent an open letter to the US Congressman Adam Schiff, who is the author of the draft bill “Artsakh Revenue Recovery Act of 2024”.

The letter reads: “We, the representatives of the Azerbaijani civil society and the population forcibly displaced by Armenia’s armed forces from our homes in the formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan, are writing to condemn your initiative “Artsakh Revenue Recovery Act of 2024”.

This draft is ill-informed and discriminatory as it promotes one-sided and out-of-context narratives that totally ignores the plight and suffering of one group of people and puts premium on the other group. We understand that the ethnic and religious sympathy is the main reason for your discrimination against Azerbaijan. If advanced, such a document will be an affront to human rights and international law, serving as a harbinger for instability, human suffering and damage to the US regional role.

In this regard, it is a shame to see that the elected representative puts forward such an initiative to advance private interests beholden to a certain lobby rather than to serve the public interest. All this comes at the expense of the universal values and principles that the US stands for.

We, as people who spent most of our lives in forcible displacement and destitution due to Armenia’s illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing, understand the utmost value and imperative nature of the right to return. This right is a part of fundamental human rights without regard to ethnic or religious background.

The UN team that visited the Garabakh region of Azerbaijan following the restoration of Azerbaijan's sovereignty in September 2023 stated that “they saw no damage to civilian public infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and housing, or cultural and religious infrastructure” and “they did not come across any reports — either from the local population or from others — of violence against civilians following the latest ceasefire” (https://press.un.org/en/2023/db231002.doc.htm).

With a premium put on Armenian lobby groups, your discriminative approach to the right of Azerbaijanis forcibly displaced by Armenia to return to their homes is morally obnoxious. You were absolutely silent when 750 thousand Azerbaijanis were ethnically cleansed, were subjected to genocide in Khojaly and denied their basic right to return for more than 30 years. You are now also silent as landmines implanted by Armenia continue to kill and maim innocent civilians who just exercise their right to return.

We are thankful to the Government of Azerbaijan for ending Armenia’s illegal occupation that laid the ground for the exercise of our right to return in a voluntary, safe and dignified manner. We believe that the Azerbaijani Government’s extensive rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the liberated territories will remove the remnants of war and build prosperity for all individuals displaced due to Armenia’s illegal occupation.

It is never late to change and take a morally strong, non-discriminatory and just position. We understand that it requires courage and moral strength. But if you put priority not on your personal, but the interests of the United States, long-deserved peace and prosperity of the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan, you should be able to withdraw this ill-informed and discriminatory draft.

Otherwise, your current approach not only will not benefit ordinary citizens of Armenia and Azerbaijan but will greatly damage the United States interests in the critically important region.

Sincerely,

Konul Behbudova - "Missing Families from Garabakh" Public Union;

Khatira Valiyeva - "Khankendi" Support for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Public Union;

Aziz Alakbarli - Western Azerbaijan Community;

Hafiz Safikhanov - "Azerbaijan Campaign Against Landmines" Public Union;

Leyla Huseynova - "Social Welfare" of Refugees and IDPs Public Union;

Ceyran Azizova - "For the Recognition of the Khojaly Genocide" Public Union;

Vugar Gadirov - "Youth Organization for Return and Revival" Public Union;

Ray Karimoglu - Association of the Landmine Victims of Azerbaijan;

Ayshen Huseynova - "Disclosure of Genocide Truths" Public Union;

Zaur Ibrahimli - "Prioritet" Social Economic Research Center Public Union;

Irada Rzazade - "For the Social Welfare of Citizens" Public Union.